UGa wants 5 GLOs off their property

[hoosier]

University plans to relocate fraternities

By GRAYSON IRVIN
Published , September 09, 2005, 06:00:01 AM EDT


The University has given five fraternities with houses on Lumpkin Street the option of moving to River Road as part of a long-term goal of removing them from North Campus.

The fraternities — Chi Phi, Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Alpha, Phi Delta Theta and Tau Epsilon Phi — are located on University land without a lease, so the chapters will have to move at some point in the future.

The fraternities also have the choice of moving to property off campus.

“We’re not forcing anyone to go (to River Road),” said Rodney Bennett, vice president for Student Affairs.

Bennett said the University is still working out the exact details for how the fraternities that choose to move to River Road will be accommodated.

“This is not something that is going to be resolved this month or even this year,” Bennett said.

Many details such as the financing for the new houses on River Road or off campus have yet to be discussed in detail, Bennett said.

However, he emphasized the University’s desire to provide fair deals for the fraternities:

“It is our intention to compensate each of them for the equity that is in the current structures,” Bennett said.

Head of University Architects Danny Sniff said Thursday his office has not yet been contacted about the move and no plans have been made for the land on which the houses currently sit.

Although the University currently may not have plans for the land, Sniff said the University has more than 12 million square feet of identified building needs.

“When land becomes available we have a use for it,” Sniff said.

He also said the houses’ location on North Campus fits with the goals of the master plan — a “more dense configuration.”

Officers and members of Lumpkin fraternities declined to comment for this story on Wednesday, referring questions to the Interfraternity Council.

“All houses that will be affected know about it,” said Eddie Goepp, IFC vice president for public relations.

Goepp said he received an e-mail from Claudia Shamp, the associate dean of Greek life, that outlined the developments, which he said is “pretty much all we know about it.”

Shamp said the University chose the land for its availability and proximity to campus and wants to create a “Greek Village” to redefine Greek life on campus.

She added that the fraternities could benefit from the move because of the opportunity to get new and improved housing.

“Moving is never easy,” Shamp said. “We never anticipated anyone was going to be overjoyed.”

The relocation could take several years, Bennett said. He said if the University begins work on the relocation efforts this fall, the new houses would probably not be completed until August 2008.

In the mean time, Bennett said the chapters could stay in their current locations provided they keep the houses up to code.